Thursday, May 14, 2009

1. Went to the bank and deposited my first paycheck! You heard me right...I'm a working woman now! One month ago, I started working for my sister-in-law Krystal. She started a cleaning business awhile ago and offered a job to me. I started working about 3 nights a week and then after awhile decided to work 5 nights a week. Guess what the best part is? I literally work for 1- 1.5 hours each night! We clean a commercial building that is three stories. Three of us clean it and we each have our own floor. We just empty trashes in all the offices, clean 2 bathrooms, and mop any tile floors. I've found I really like cleaning and don't mind it at all! It's a piece of cake and Krystal pays really well! And of course I'm loving the extra cash.

2. The second thing I did today was pay off our 2ND car loan! I used my first paycheck to pay off the remainder of our loan! I feel like calling Dave Ramsey and screaming "WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!" OK.... we're not debt free quite yet. And trust me, we've had many a conversation about calling into his show when we ARE completely debt free! But now the ONLY debt we have is school loans and a mortgage which is pretty fantastic if I do say so myself. We actually paid off our first car just a few months ago (we've had it for 7 years) and we've only had the van for a year and a half! Now if our van can just hold up so we can enjoy the no car payment thing for a LITTLE while!

I have to give an update on my new coupon hobby... I love it! I keep getting better and better each month and I'm really starting to get the hang of it. I think the only thing I need to improve on is how much time I spend searching for deals. I think it still takes a little too much time! But then again, with the money I'm saving... it's worth the time.

I would have to say that we used to spend between $550-$600 on groceries every month for a family of 5. That includes everything: food, household, diapers, beauty products, eating out, everything. For the month of April, I told Tom that I thought I could spend $400 total. He didn't think I could do it. Well, I spend $414.77! Not bad for the first month of trying that! We only went out to eat one time for dinner and one time for lunch. It does take a lot of planning and discipline, that's for sure! I'm going to try to see if I can keep that budget going every month!

Every once in awhile I do have a "bad" experience when I use coupons. Sometimes prices don't ring up right and of course the cashiers view it as a huge inconvenience to try and fix it. But, all of the other times, the cashiers always make comments on how much money I'm saving and how cool it is! Last night I went and bought 8 boxes of cereal, 3 pasta salad mixes, cake mix, and two frostings....for $7! I love the feeling of saving that much!

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people who like me:

Congratulations on the strategic shopping! I think it's odd the stores do promotions and then often don't have them programmed in the computers. Some of the clerks act like you are trying to steal from the store. But when it all works right or you force it to work (much to the chagrin of the people in line behind you), it's great.

I love being a mom, but I also finding working and being able to contribute financially very satisfying. The important thing is to find a balance. Congratulations on paying off your car. We are in the same boat - student loan and house. Not bad - but, we still have some work to do.

Hey, I would love a job like that. Trust me, I've kept my eyes and ears wide open. Also, I love the savings. You are inspiring me! We just ordered a sunday paper and I'm hoping to begin the coupon clipping as soon as it gets here. The problem I find is that the coupons are for name brands and the off brands are still cheaper...any ideas? You'll love my deal of the century story. I looked on the free ads online and hooked myself up with 17 BOXES of unopened, unexpired baby rice and oatmeal cereal. Yay huh!